A South Cumbria man has been convicted of harassing a safety camera van operator.
Matthew George Turnbull, 44, of Mikasa Street, Walney, Barrow-in-Furness, admitted a charge of harassment when he appeared at South Cumbria Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 18th May 2021.
Harassment is an offence under section 2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. It has a maximum penalty of 6 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction.
The court heard that Turnbull engaged in a course of conduct that caused harassment to police staff member Stuart Burns, who was operating the van in the Barrow area.
On three separate occasions - including twice on the same day - Turnbull approached the van, distracted Mr Burns from his work and obstructed the camera equipment being operated.
The 44-year-old, who has a YouTube channel under the name "mat12128", also pushed his camera into the van in an effort to get video footage "for entertainment purposes".
Very helpfully from the prosecution's point of view, Turnbull uploaded footage of the offences for all to see.
Prosecutor Lee Dacre outlined the circumstances: "On 30th September Mr Burns was working at the location of Park Road in Barrow.
"At 11.05 am he was approached by a male recording on a mobile phone.
"He was pushing the phone in the hatch at the back of the vehicle."
Mr Dacre said Turnbull made a comment on police camera vans being used as "cash cows for the Government".
"Mr Burns told him to stop recording and then closed the hatch,” continued Mr Dacre.
The court heard Turnbull then blocked the safety camera laser preventing Mr Burns from working.
Just over a week later, at around 9 am on 8th October, Turnbull approached a safety camera van parked close to his home in Walney.
Once again, Mr Burns was going about his duties in the rear of the vehicle; Once again, Turnbull attempted to film inside and obstructed the camera equipment.
On that occasion the police were called and moved Turnbull along, but only a few hours later he approached the van for a second time and engaged in similar behaviour.
Mr Dacre said that Mr Burns had suffered a stroke since the incidents and was worried about his blood pressure.
He was anxious about having to return to work in the Barrow area, where he might be confronted by Turnbull again in the future.
Karen Templeton, mitigating for Turnbull, said that her client did not have a "vendetta" against Mr Burns in particular and did not mean to target him (which is contradicted by the fact he returned to the same van and operator for a second time on 8th October).
She euphemistically explained that Turnbull liked to "interview" safety camera operators (among others) for the "entertainment" of his YouTube viewers.
"He should have thought through the consequences," added Ms Templeton.
District Judge John Temperley determined that the offence was serious enough to merit a community order.
Turnbull was sentenced to a 12-month community order with an 8-week electronically monitored curfew requirement.
He was also ordered to pay £95 victim surcharge and £85 towards prosecution costs.
The Judge also imposed a restraining order which prohibits Turnbull from contacting Mr Burns or approaching, filming or obstructing any safety camera van for the next 12 months.
It seems an opportune moment to remind readers that several possible offences can be committed by anyone obstructing a safety camera van.
For those vehicles crewed by police officers, obstructing their work could be an offence under section 89(2) of the Police Act 1996. For those crewed by police staff, an offence under section 46(2) of the Police Reform Act 2002 could be committed.
Of course there is always the possibility of offences under the Public Order Act 1986 in the case of anyone who bandies around threatening or abusive language or behaviour towards a camera operator.
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